Napkin Girl
by oncoming-neatly-folded-swan
Summary: Part 2 of 2, following on from The Nowhere Hotel. McKenzie regains her memories and finds she got a little more than she asked for.
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor woke up and looked around, he was in bed in one of the hotel rooms. He remembered that he had regenerated, he sighed. He felt like ranting, his organs felt different, he wondered what he might look like, but strangely he almost felt the same.

'What if I'm not ginger?!' he thought in a sudden moment of panic. He tried to move, then he realised McKenzie was cuddled up to his side and his arm was around her. He smiled, then he remembered what had happened to her.

Her hair was different, now it was white and straight. He didn't know what could have happened to her after being hit. He tried to wake her.

"Doctor!" she jumped up and took a deep breath. She was struggling to breathe "What?! I… blood… light?"

He noticed they were no longer covered in his blood.

"I suppose it's something to do with the hotel... keeping everything clean." he held McKenzie still, "McKenzie, calm down… you need to breathe," he took deep breaths with her till she calmed, "You were hit by my regeneration… I don't know what could have happened to you... but are you ok?"

"I think so... but... regeneration... you said you would change…?" McKenzie tilted her head as she looked over The Doctor.

"Yes I know, I'm sorry," The Doctor hung his head, "It's a thing Time Lords do... it's a way of cheating death, I haven't left you though… It's still me–"

"Well, of course it is… you haven't changed, you look the same." McKenzie placed her hand on his cheek and pulled his face up to look at her. She smiled reassuringly.

"I.. I do?" he looked over to the mirror. He looked exactly the same.

"George said… this place, gives you what you want… maybe it has something to do with that?" McKenzie asked.

"It couldn't be..." he said, "I must still be in the first twenty-four hours of my regeneration cycle… I haven't changed" he smiled, then saw McKenzie in the reflection next to him, her eyes widened.

"You're right, but I certainly have…" she brushed her hair out of her face.

The Doctor looked over her. Her eyes had changed, one was golden instead of green, still glowing, one with radiation and the other with energy.

"Your eyes..." he said.

"Doctor… I feel strange" she took another few deep breaths.

"Again, there's no telling what could have happened to you…"

"It feels like I'm not breathing quickly enough…" she exhaled a golden stream of energy. They looked at each other, wide eyed and completely shocked, "I didn't used to do that… did I?"

"No… you didn't… What do you feel, right now?"

"I don't know… my head is swimming…" she got up and stood in the middle of the room "I feel… I feel like… everything. Everything at once. I can feel everything! Hearts beating– people rushing– planets spinning– stars burning… it hurts. My head, it hurts! But it feels so… so real"

The Doctor grabbed her by the shoulders "I feel that. I feel that all the time!"

"It feels like falling…"

"And you're just clinging to the skin of whatever tiny world you find yourself on"

"What happens if we let go…?"

They locked eyes with each other and stared unblinkingly.

"My eyes...?" she asked, completely breaking the tension.

"What?"

"You said my eyes... what about them?" she looked in the mirror.

"They're still pretty..." he said, although not out loud, he couldn't help thinking it, then worried himself because he knew she could probably hear it… Although she shouldn't be able to.

"Gosh!" McKenzie glared at herself in the mirror, "They're two dif– Wait you think my eyes are pretty?" she turned to him, seemingly having forgotten about her appearance.

"Yes– No– I didn't say that– Don't change the subject!" he stuttered.

"Fine," she tried not to laugh, "What does this mean?"

"I… I don't know." The Doctor froze, his eyes were wide, almost mad. He looked her in the eyes, took her hand in his and felt her heart beat again, it was quick. They held their breath and kept eye contact. She placed her hand on his, slowly moved it over and felt a second heartbeat. They gasped, let go of each other and turned around.

"What… what happened?" she asked.

"I… For once, I honestly don't know…" he replied. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at her, he checked it and looked astonished, "Still partly you... But now you're–"

"Partly you..." she turned to him and took his hand, "What does this mean?"

"Well… it depends. I mean… I feel– um…" his words trailed off and he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say.

She held his hands and looked deep into his eyes.

"I think I'm still empathic, so… I could say for you, if you like...?" she tried to hold back her grin as her cheeks flushed pink.

"If you know, then I don't have to say, do I?" he smiled a little helplessly.

McKenzie could feel the excitement coming from him, it was hard to contain herself. She smiled "It's good though… really good!"

They held each other tightly.

"Thank you…" she said, squeezing him a little extra.

"For what?" he asked, looking down at her.

"For staying with me, at least now I know that you're ok… and I can say goodbye." she looked down and bit her lip.

"Goodbye?" he pulled her chin up to face him and look at her in disbelief, "Sorry, but I'm not leaving you… not now…"

"But what about–"

"Wait a minute." he shushed her and started pacing the room.

"What?"

"Say what you just said, exactly how you said it." he pointed to her.

"What?" McKenzie repeated.

"Before that." he clasped his hands together and pressed them to his lips.

"Thank you?"

"After that."

"For staying with me…?"

"Yes!" he pointed to her again, "What did you mean by that?"

"Well, I got knocked out, I figured you brought me here..?"

"No… I woke up here holding y–" he paused, "I woke up here, I assumed you brought me?"

McKenzie laughed "Have you seen yourself? You're ripped!" she stopped and blushed a little, "Sorry, you're a big guy, how am I supposed to carry you? I'd be dragging you up the stairs!"

"Then who–" The Doctor stopped, "Oh no…"

"The TARDIS!" they said together before running downstairs.

The TARDIS was nowhere to be found.

"It's gone!" McKenzie said.

"No… NO!" The Doctor angrily slammed his hands against the wall "You listen to me. Whoever you people are, you give back my ship NOW. I can be you're worst nightmare! I'm the oncoming storm! Listen to me!" he hit the wall again.

"Doctor!" McKenzie grabbed his wrist before he hit the wall again, she was gritting her teeth like it was difficult to keep control, "They're not going to listen, you've got to calm down… they'll just knock us out and erase our memories…"

"They've got my ship, they could be doing anything…"

"Well, you locked it… right? They can't get in if the doors are locked?"

He rummaged in his pockets and pulled out his key.

"I mean… it was grown on Gallifrey, there's no way they could know anything about it. They couldn't figure out how it works." McKenzie shrugged.

He took a deep breath and straightened himself out, "You're right…"

It too a moment for it to click in their minds but they realised together and stared for a moment, "Wait… how did I know that?" McKenzie asked.

"I don't know... do you remember anything?" The Doctor half-heartedly looked over his shoulder at her.

She thought for a moment "I... I remember everything... my family, my home... everything! But, this is fantastic! Doctor I've got my memories back!" she wandered around in the corridor, her eyes glazed over like she could see all of her memories happening before her eyes.

"That's great McKenzie..." he smiled weakly.

"But wait... some of these are wrong," he expression changed from wonder to confusion, "That's... that's Gallifrey and that's your family!" she seemed a little dizzy.

"Sorry, what?" The Doctor turned to her.

"All these memories flooding in my head... the daleks, ood, silence, cybermen..."

"McKenzie..."

"And so many regenerations... recorder, jelly babies, celery, umbrella!"

"McKenzie!"

"Names and faces... Rose, Martha, Donna, Jack, Amy, River, Clara... So many people! The Master–"

"Stop!" he shouted, it seemed to echo in the silence of the hotel corridors.

She shook her head, "Gosh... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

"It's fine..."

"How do I know all of this... your memories...?"

"Somehow you've picked up more than just my anatomy..."

"Gosh... Are... are you ok?" she put her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine" he said, shrugging it off and walking away.

The Doctor went back to the room. McKenzie stayed in the bar, she looked around; the stage was clear and the room was empty, like whomever had stopped running the program they had for her. Now it was nothing more than a nicely decorated prison cell. She hopped over the bar and rummaged through the cupboards. She sighed "Empty…" she looked around and found a pile of napkins, for some reason, they were still here… The same she had written on when she first met The Doctor. She started to fold the napkin. She closed her eyes and rummaged through her thoughts, she had memories, her own as well as The Doctor's. She remembered Florran and Gallifrey. Both beautiful sights, bright green forests and huge golden cities. She tried to block out The Doctor's memories, the time war, the fall of the Time Lords… What he had to do… She shed a tear… Then other faces… 13 other faces… changing history, saving the planet, the people… She smiled and opened her eyes. She had made the napkin into a swan.

She blocked out the last of his memories and went upstairs to find The Doctor.


	2. Chapter 2

When she entered the room The Doctor was lying on the bed flicking his yo-yo up into the air and pulling it back.

"How are you doing that?" McKenzie asked.

"I guess the laws of physics don't really count in a holo-chamber." he put the yo-yo back in his pocket. McKenzie sat on the bed next to him and crossed her legs.

"I think I accidentally made you a swan…" she handed him the red paper swan.

He sat up and took the swan. He laughed, "Napkin girl..."

They stopped speaking for a moment, an awkward silence hanging in the air.

"So… that long story you were telling me about…" she said.

"You found it..?" The Doctor asked.

"I did…"

He went quiet as he lay back down.

"I saw a lot of things… Gallifrey is wonderful. I managed to lock your thoughts away though… before I saw too much; friends, family… children, grandchildren… lovers…"

He rolled over, facing away from her. She gently stroked his side.

"It's not your fault… what happened– to anyone. If anything… you're a hero."

"I've been called a lot of things…" he rolled his eyes.

"Your friends, they're really good people, wherever they are. You gave them that. That was your influence…" she dropped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, "If anything is anyone's fault… it's me. I brought you here, I wasn't strong enough… I got you shot. I lost you your TARDIS"

He rolled back over, "What are you talking about…?"

She faced him, "Vera and George… they were my responsibility… I brought them on you and–"

"You forget," he took her hands, "I promised you I would help." he smiled reassuringly.

"I suppose you did…" she smiled back.

"So how are they? George and Vera?" The Doctor asked, trying to change the subject.

"I don't know… they seem pretty quiet. I mean they were only extra thoughts in my head… were… oh dear." she got up and started pacing.

"What?" he sat up.

"I can't feel them– My head feels quieter no other thoughts, no burrowing or squirming… I don't know how, but they're gone."

The Doctor got up and pointed his sonic screwdriver at her.

"What do you mean gone?" he asked as the screwdriver buzzed, he checked it, "It's definitely just you in there…"

"Well, if they're not here… gosh. What if, what if they stole–" McKenzie started to panic.

"No way… they wouldn't know how to control her and she would never let them…"

"No… I don't suppose she would…"

"But they are in my TARDIS. And we are stuck in here." he ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"We'll have to use what we have I guess… What have you got? Empty your pockets."

The Doctor emptied his pockets out onto the desk.

"I've got my sonic, psychic paper, a jelly baby–"

"Ew… in your pocket?" McKenzie recoiled slightly.

"A lighter," he kept on pulling things out, "A pen, a spare tie."

"Really…?"

"Stephen." he patted the red paper swan's head.

"Stephen... the swan?" she smirked.

"A tea bag, my yo-yo and… a fork…"

"Oh I suppose that's sonic as well?"

He examined the fork and whacked it against the edge of the table, it chimed a clear note.

The Doctor smiled smugly. McKenzie rolled her eyes.

"And this..." he handed her a red napkin, " _Napkin Girl_..."

She looked down at the napkin, it read 'stairs. room 4. come alone.'

"You really kept that?" she looked up at him and smiled.

"Of course," he packed the stuff back into his pockets, "That napkin is one of _the_ most important napkins–"

"That and any of the other napkins in the cupboard..." she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Well, you wrote on this one. This particular napkin, was in the right place at the right time, for this message to lead me to you, which in turn lead you to become, well... you." he smiled at her.

She rolled her eyes at him and tried to hide her blushing cheeks as she handed him back the napkin, "How big are your pockets anyway?"

"Bigger on the inside, of course."

McKenzie sighed.

"I have a hair clip…" she walked over to the mirror and pinned her hair out of her face, "My wrist bands… oh and I have my glasses," McKenzie looked closely at her glasses, "Hmm… oh? There's a switch on the side…" she put on her glasses and flipped the switch, "Maybe they're sunglasses as well…" she turned to The Doctor, "Oh…" she grinned, then looked a little further down at him, "Oh!" she gasped, turned furiously red and took off the glasses, "Nope! Not shades!"

"What?" he walked over to her, she backed up and bumped into the wall.

She laughed nervously, "They're _definitely_ not x-ray specs…" she bit her finger nail.

"Can I see them?" The Doctor asked.

"No!" she snapped.

"Why not…?"

"Maybe they're not so definitely…" she tried to say as innocently as possible.

"Oh you mean..?" he looked down at himself, "Oh…" he smiled his charming smile.

McKenzie blushed even more.

The Doctor lent against the wall next to her, "So..?"

"Hmm?" she looked at the floor.

"What was it that you called me earlier…? Ripped was it?"

She mumbled to herself.

"No, I remember it distinctly," he put on a voice, "Oh Doctor, you're so strong and handsome!" he flexed his arm, "I couldn't possibly lift you all the way up those stairs!"

"Oh come on! I did _not_ say that! And like you've never said anything like that about me, you know I know what you're thinking!"

"So many words, but which one to pick?" he played with her fringe as he brushed it out of her face.

"Hm…" she grumbled and glared at him, "You told me my eyes were pretty."

"Is it really my fault if you chose to be able to read my mind? Which by the way, should be impossible–"

"I don't need to be a mind reader to notice some things, pal." she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Could I see the glasses?"

"Fine…" she rolled her eyes, "No funny business, ok?"

"I would never!" he put on the glasses and walked out into the room, "Ooh these are clever, did you design these?"

"Yeah, I had _huge_ plans for them... Like with my computer. I could see what was wrong without taking the whole thing apart first... but I tended to just use them to tell when my toast was done right..."

"I do love a bit of toast." he smiled and continued looking around the room, "The layers that the glasses see through seem to depend on how close you are to–" he turned to McKenzie and stopped, "Whoa."

"Hey!" she turned around.

"Trust me, that's not making it any better! Is that a tattoo..? I might have to change my word…"

"Alright, take them off now!"

"Ok, ok…" he laughed and handed her back the glasses.

McKenzie was bright red.

"So... what does it mean?"

She rolled her eyes, "It's the Old Florrian symbol for 'courage' and the vines are the kind that used to grow on my parents' house..."

"That's sweet." he said trying not to laugh.

"Oh come on... I got it before I left home... I was really nervous... and I wanted to prove myself! It seems stupid now, but it meant a lot to me when I was younger." she rolled her eyes, "I only chose it because my mum was always going on about the _local legend_ saying that if those vines grew around your house your first born would achieve incredible things..."

"Is that true…?"

"I'll let you know, if I see her…"

"Ok, put the glasses on, look at the walls and tell me what you see."

"Alright…" she stood back and looked at the walls, "That's code!"

"Yes, it is."

"Maybe if we found a wall, that didn't have code, we could find a door or a way out!" she wandered around the room looking at anything except The Doctor, "What about where you came in, where the lift used to be…?" she turned to him, then covered her eyes with her hands, "Sorry!" she giggled and took off the glasses. They headed to the cupboard.

McKenzie looked around at the walls near the cupboard, a small section in the corner showed a metal door and a keypad. She handed the glasses to The Doctor, "Reckon you could bust the lock?"

"I suppose…" he put on the glasses and examined the keypad. He pointed his sonic at it, it buzzed for a moment and the keypad exploded. The walls wobbled and pixelated.

They realised they were in a small metal room with a big door. There was a camera in the corner.

"At least somebody knows we're here…" said McKenzie.

They smiled and waved up at the camera.

Elsewhere in the Planet Link base, Jack followed Conrad, the head of Planet Link down a corridor and into the lift.

"Look, Mr Walther, you don't understand–" Jack protested.

"No, Harkness you don't understand! We could have released two very dangerous criminals!"

"If we don't get them out of there, sooner or later we will have…"

They got into the lift and went up to the head office. Most of the windows were covered by a holographic barrier and there were still a few bits of broken glass on the floor.

"You have a lot of explaining to do…" he glared at Jack.

They sat down at the desk. A guard pointed a gun at Jack's head.

"Do you think that's going to scare me?" he sat back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk.

"No, but as you know, we have a lot of very intelligent people working here… say one of them developed a sort of… _freeze ray_ if you will. We know a lot about you Captain Jack Harkness. Who you are, who you've worked for, what you are capable of… we might not be able to kill you, but we can stop you. We have nothing to hide and don't like people thinking that we do. Now if you would be kind enough to answer some questions we'd be happy to return the favour." he leaned forward, "What are you doing here?"

"I was suspicious as to why you needed time agents working for you."

"As we've said high priority packages. Be that workers or prisoners. We take new applicants when we feel they are most likely to say yes."

"Surely that changes everything? Their furtures...?"

"Only people with the potential to become something... but never do. It hardly changes a thing, only makes their lives better."

"For your own gains... Now, George and Vera, two people from god knows where that have had a string of random killings drawn back to them, both have histories of extreme violence before they became killers, _why_ did you put their minds inside of hers?"

"She volunteered. You don't seem to understand that not only do we supply businesses with the best in security technology, we also design and test new forms of incarceration. What is your interest in Miss Murphy?"

"She was the most recent of your employees to disappear without a trace. What did you do to her?"

"We tested moving consciousness. She volunteered. We have her signature and that's all we needed. Much like all the other _disappearances_ … She knew she was going to be in there for an indeterminate amount of time."

"Yeah until you figured out how to get them out again... Or you didn't even plan to! You just left her there!" Jack stood angrily.

Conrad stood up as well and slammed his hand on the desk, "Do you realise letting her out, puts a lot of people at risk!"

"He was going to put her back, but–"

"Who is The Doctor?!" he spun his monitor round showing McKenzie and The Doctor waving up at the camera.


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor and McKenzie watched as the large door opened, two armed guards were standing by.

"This way…" they said, indicating with their guns.

The Doctor and McKenzie looked at each other and followed.

They were teleported into the head office.

"Whoa…" McKenzie wobbled in place and leant on The Doctor. He put his arm around her.

"You'll get used to it," he patted her shoulder, "You ok?"

"I'll be fine, just give me a minute for my extra organs to catch up…" McKenzie whispered to him.

Conrad walked over to them, "Ahh Miss Murphy, delighted you could join us and you Sir," he turned to The Doctor, "Must be The Doctor…" he held his hand out to shake, "Glad to be properly acquainted."

The Doctor shook his hand, "You have my ship…" he kept hold of Conrad's hand; there was a small cracking noise.

"Um, Doctor…" McKenzie held his wrist, "I think you should let go now…"

He let go and put his hands behind his back.

Conrad stretched his fingers, "If I had known it meant so much to you I would have tried to crack it open sooner."

The Doctor gritted his teeth.

"Where are George and Vera?" Conrad asked McKenzie.

"I don't know… They're not in my head anymore." said McKenzie.

"You thought letting them out was a good idea?!" he shouted.

"We didn't choose to!" The Doctor held himself back.

"It was my fault, I got in the way… The regeneration energy it changed me, maybe somehow it gave… them… bodies… too… oops."

"Sorry, regeneration energy!?" Conrad shouted.

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Wait a minute!" said Jack.

"Harkness you've done enough." snapped Conrad.

"No, they're in the TARDIS. I can hear them talking, I don't know if they've noticed the screen, I turned the volume off when you were falling from the building…"

"We've got to get them out of there," said McKenzie, "If they figure out–"

"I don't think they've thought about that…"

"What do you mean?" asked The Doctor.

"Let's just say they're glad to have separate bodies again…"

Everyone shuffled uncomfortably.

"Not in my TARDIS…" he recoiled, "You humans and your… urges." he shuddered.

McKenzie raised her eyebrow at him "Wait…" she said, "They're definitely still human right?"

"Yeah..." said Jack.

"No, talking of extra organs or… glowing anything..?"

"Why…?"

"No reason…" she and The Doctor shared a look of relief.

"Alright then," said Conrad, "I'm willing to offer you a trade, you can have your ship back if you get me my prisoners?"

"You really think we'll–" said The Doctor.

"We'll do it!" said McKenzie enthusiastically.

"Good, try not to get killed." said Conrad signalling to the guards.

The Doctor, McKenzie and Jack were grabbed by security and teleported to the TARDIS. The guards left them alone.

"I doubt we can count on big brother's help…" she pointed to the cameras.

"So do we have a plan?" asked Jack.

The Doctor shushed them and opened the panel on the front of the TARDIS. His put the ear piece of the old fashioned phone to his ear.

"Can you hear them?" McKenzie said quietly.

"I can't..." said Jack.

"They left…" he closed the panel and patted the TARDIS, "Probably to defile other parts of my TARDIS…" he grumbled angrily and stroked the TARDIS.

"Uh, we should…" said McKenzie.

"Yeah…" said Jack.

The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS and slowly opened the door. They crept inside, McKenzie's bag was still on the floor as was the pistol clip.

"I guess they didn't waste much time…" said McKenzie.

They looked around, there was a shadowy McKenzie shaped outline from where she was pinned by the regeneration, the pistol was on the other side of the room.

"What happened here?" asked Jack.

"I shot him…" McKenzie said.

"George shot me." The Doctor insisted.

"I practically let him!"

"Look, I'm fine, what's done is done ok?" he stroked her shoulder, she smiled.

Jack cleared his throat.

"Right, we'll each take one of the corridors–" said the Doctor pointing to the corridor leading out of the console room that split into two.

"Stop it!" they heard Vera giggling in the distance.

"Or we could just head that way…" said Jack pointing in the direction of her voice.

"Ok, you two go find them, I've still got a couple of tricks up my sleeve…"

She put her wrist up in front of her and moved it down; a blue light rippled and she disappeared.

"Be quick, this doesn't last long"

Jack and The Doctor looked at each other.

"Did you know she could do that?" asked Jack.

"She is _full_ of surprises…" said The Doctor, he felt a pinch in his side, "Ouch!"

"I heard that!" said McKenzie.

They followed Vera's giggling; she stopped, "Did you hear that?"

The Doctor and Jack stood either side of the door to the room they were in.

"Georgey, don't you think we should leave now." Vera said, "We have bodies, and the ship-"

"Please, I really feel that we need to get to know each other again…" George whispered to her.

The Doctor barged in, Jack followed.

"Alright, stop right there!" said The Doctor.

Vera stood, "Oh hello boys, you didn't have to come all the way here just for little old me."

She was a tall slender brunette; George was even taller, lanky with black hair and a goatee.

"So this is how you've always looked..." said Jack.

"Yes, we should thank you Doctor, for our bodies… and the clothes, your wardrobe really is fantastic!"

"We'll leave the thanks, my dear, I think you've thanked the gentlemen quite enough…" said George.

Vera winked at them.

"Once we've figured out your ship, we'll dump you somewhere… and do you really think that's going to fool me?!" he stuck his arm out and grabbed McKenzie by the throat, she became visible again.

The Doctor stepped towards them.

"Ah, ah, ah… one false move and I snap her neck."

McKenzie flipped out her staff and hit him hard in the stomach. Jack grabbed Vera, she struggled but Jack was too strong. McKenzie fought with George and overpowered him, she held him up with her staff to his neck and her foot on his back.

"Doctor, do you think you can get hold of them?" asked McKenzie.

He nodded and left for the console room.

"You know, for such dangerous criminals, you could have made this a little harder…" said Jack.

"Oh please don't say that." McKenzie sighed.

Vera and George looked at each other, simultaneously George flipped McKenzie onto the floor and Vera kicked Jack with her heels, she took his vortex manipulator and ran to George. They teleported out as quickly as they had excaped from Jack and McKenzie.

"How did… ugh…" McKenzie tried to sit up.

The Doctor ran in, "What happened?" he asked helping McKenzie up "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, fine…"

"No, don't worry about me!" Jack was doubled over breathing heavily.

They headed to the console room.

"So what do they say? I doubt they're going to just let us go." said Jack.

"Although… if someone were to say," McKenzie typed away on the console, "Hack into the mainframe and shut off the containment field…"

"You can do that?" asked The Doctor.

"Just give me a moment, and… done!"

"You are amazing." The Doctor smiled.

"It's good to have my memories back!" she smiled.

She hailed Conrad.

"Ah, Miss Murphy. You caught them then?" he asked.

"No, they got away." she said.

"Well then _you_ are standing in _my_ ship." he tapped his fingers angrily.

"Ooh sorry, wrong again…"

"What?!"

"Bye-bye!" all three of them said waving. McKenzie shut down the communication.

The Doctor and McKenzie set to the console, they both reached for the final lever and smiled at each other, they pulled it down together and The TARDIS dematerialised.


	4. Chapter 4

The TARDIS shook happily as they made their escape, with the atmosphere in the room it was almost like the whole console was glad to be free again. Mckenzie smiled as she looked up at The Doctor from across the console. Jack felt that he had to throw himself between them just to stop them from making googly eyes at each other.

They all laughed together as the TARDIS finally slowed to a stop.

"So, what now then?" asked The Doctor, putting his arms around Jack and McKenzie.

"That was quite small time for you Doctor. We could stop a galactic war, save the universe?" Jack smiled.

"And that's a regular weekend for you then?" asked McKenzie, raising an eyebrow at them.

"Well…" The Doctor shrugged modestly.

"Oh you wouldn't believe some of the things we got up to when we were young." Jacked laughed.

"You consider yourselves old?" McKenzie asked.

"You don't know the half of it... We've been through a lot." Jack paused for a moment, like everything was washing over him from his past. He shook it from his mind, "Anyway, I'm going to stick around for a bit, see if I can't chase up where they went…"

"Sounds good to me, but they're Planet Link's problem right?" asked McKenzie, "Anyway, as alluring as what might be on the other side of that door is, I'm pretty beat… so I'm going to take a nap or something." said McKenzie.

"Down the far right hallway, on the left, just opposite the wardrobe, should be alright." said The Doctor.

"Thanks…" she said, grinning at him as she left.

The Doctor picked up McKenzie's bag and pulled out the files on Vera and George.

"Vera seemed pretty interested in getting these files..." he handed one to Jack, "These could help find them?" he said.

"Theymust have had it planned all along… I know it. Steal a vortex manipulator and get the hell out of dodge… they could be anywhere now."

The Doctor opened the file on Vera, "Oh. Well… This explains a lot…" he showed the file to Jack.

"Hmm…" Jack mumbled.

"She's a lady of… negotiable affections…" he continued reading the file, "She killed a string of men for not paying her properly."

"But, if she's from the 18th century… How did she end up here?" Jack opened the folder for George, "And how did she end up meeting him?" he handed The Doctor the file. It showed he was a club owner from the 1890's.

"To get their _employees_ Planet Link have a system. They take people from different times, when they can manipulate them easily." The Doctor rubbed his chin quizzically, "Hm... says here Vera was a personal request from George…" The Doctor shuffled awkwardly, "Lovely."

"We're getting nowhere with this they could have hopped a ship off of the planet by now… Although... Planet Link monitors the use of their vortex manipulators so we could check that?" Jack sighed.

"Well, it's a start…" The Doctor got up and stretched, "I'm going to check on McKenzie."

"Alright." Jack grinned, "Don't check too hard..." he giggled.

The Doctor headed to McKenzie's room, the door was closed. He noticed it had her tattoo etched into it with a message in circular Gallifreyan, he went a little red and laughed to himself "Napkin Girl..." he slowly opened the door and lent on the door frame, just to check on her.

She was lying on the bed like she had just flopped over. He watched her for a moment, smiled and went to leave but she stirred and woke up.

"Oh, hey," she rolled over, "I would have tried to be a little more graceful if I knew I was gaining an audience." she got up from her bed, "Did you find anything?"

"Jack's working on it." The Doctor shrugged.

"Good." she shuffled awkwardly, she was wearing a familiar white shirt and stripy socks, "I hope you don't mind me borrowing it…"

"No, it's fine, it looks better on you anyway," he smiled, "I mean you can give it back now if it bothers you." he shrugged, a tiny bit of pink creeping its way onto his cheeks.

"Oh thanks! You couldn't just–" she swayed, "Blimey, how tired are you?"

"Not at all, I'm fine." he lied.

"No, you're not." she pulled him over to the bed, "Come on, bedtime."

He pulled away from her, "I am over two-thousand years old, I don't have a _bedtime._ "

She raised her eyebrow and sat down on the bed, "Well, _I_ have some serious adjusting to do and even if you don't want to sleep–"

"I don't need to sleep–"

"You could at least just have a lie down?"

The Doctor sighed defeated as he did as he was told.

"Good boy." she said, he raised his eyebrow at her and she laughed.

She lay down next to him, "This is so weird..." she said, staring up at the ceiling.

"I can go if you like–"

"No, don't be stupid. I mean me. For the first time in– I don't even know, I have memories... I remember what happened to me... but I guess I got more than I bargained for... I got you as well."

"I still don't know how I feel about you knowing everything there is to know about me..."

"Yeah... I'm– I'm sorry about that."

He looked her in the eyes, "You know my name... don't you?"

She gazed back at him "I do..."

"And there's only one time I would ever tell anyone my name, I may have done that a couple of times now..." he said awkwardly, "But you just know it as I know it... I never told you."

"I only heard it once... mixed in with everything else, but I don't think I'll ever forget it."

He looked up at the ceiling.

"Do you want to know my name...? Like... my full, _real_ , name?" she asked him.

"You don't have to tell me... it's not like we're–"

"But I want to..."

He turned to her, looking almost confused.

"I mean... it's only fair." she added awkwardly.

"Alright," he smiled genuinely as he looked back up at the ceiling, "Go ahead."

She took a deep breath, "Gosh... it feels like I'm about to give part of myself away... That's a weird feeling." she laughed awkwardly.

"In a way, you are..." The Doctor said, "For a Gallifreyan this tradition means giving a part of your soul to the other person–"

"And I feel like I've just taken yours, with nothing in return. So here goes..."

She moved close to him, her cheek brushed against his as she whispered in his ear, taking care to make her name sound as meaningful as possible, even though it couldn't possibly be as impressive as his was.

"Phoenix Laili'Yaudrah Pandora" she slowly moved back and joined him in staring up at the ceiling. They were silent for a moment. She felt fear, she was actually a little scared of what he might think, she didn't know why. She turned to him, some of the fear she was feeling was coming from him, "Hey." she poked him.

He turned to her, unable to think of something to say.

"Look after it... yeah? I trust you." she smiled.

They smiled at each other.

"It's funny..."

"What?" he asked.

"No, not that... Something else." she fiddled with his tie, "When you walked out of that closet, did you ever think that this is where you would end up?"

He smiled and leant back on his arms behind his head, "Well, me and my endless charm, how could you resist?"

She jabbed him in the ribs, "Shut up." she laughed.

McKenzie moved a little closer and rested her hand on his chest.

"I guess, if I hadn't been shot... you wouldn't be here right now." he said.

"Yeah... I suppose I wouldn't be."

"And you wouldn't be... well, who you are now."

"No, I wouldn't be would I..?" she smiled, "So... what you were saying... before?"

"Before?"

"About me and who you thought you were going to be…"

"Oh, right yeah..." he tried not to blush.

"You'd really want me there... after your regeneration?" she asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Of course..." he smiled, "You were there before weren't you? Yours was the first face that this face saw." he brushed her hair out of her face, "You really helped me find who I am... or at least who I am this time... and uh– that means a lot... to me..." he went a bit red.

"Gee, are you always this... _gushy_ after regenerating?" McKenzie laughed. The Doctor rolled his eyes and McKenzie continued to tease him, "Are you sure you haven't become a woman?"

"Well excuse me for saying _things_... I mean, you can check if you really want–"

"Oh wow..." McKenzie lay back on the bed, "Definitely a bloke, if that's your pick-up line."

"That's not how I meant it to sound..." The Doctor covered his face, "I didn't say that... pretend I didn't say that!"

They laughed and turned to face each other.

"So what do we do now, where do we go from here?" McKenzie asked.

"Well… there's a whole universe out there..."

"You don't sound enthusiastic?"

"No, it's amazing... I'd love to show you–"

"But?"

"But trouble tends to follow me around…"

"I can handle trouble." she raised her eyebrow at him.

He smiled, "Sometimes I wish– I wish I could just… be."

McKenzie thought for a second, thinking about what he meant by that. She felt a sense of longing and fear that tied her stomach in knots, but the feeling melted away when he looked up into her eyes, "Maybe, I could help with that…?" she asked.

"I think I'd like that." he smiled.

She cuddled up to him and he put his arm around her. She eventually fell asleep in the comfortable silence, he watched her for a moment and considered leaving but he held her close and fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

A light filtered through the room and McKenzie woke up, she worried for a moment thinking of where she had been the last time she awoke, but when she realised she was still inside the TARDIS she calmed down. Somehow the light seemed natural even though it was coming from the walls, it gave the room a sweet ethereal glow.

"Hey," she poked The Doctor, "Wake up."

He stirred, "No, good dream…" his words were muffled into the pillows, he opened his eyes, "And oh, you were there!"

She rolled her eyes and elbowed him.

"Oh, come on. Not like _that_..." he chuckled.

"Right, well, I'm going to get dressed, you better be ready when I get to the console."

"For what?"

"You've got a whole universe to show me! Got to start somewhere!" she walked over to the door, "I'll be in the wardrobe if you need me." she winked at him and left.

The Doctor lay back down on the bed. He beamed. Just the thought of holding her made his hearts jump. He got up and went over to the mirror; he straightened himself out and went to get ready.

Jack finished flicking through the last of the files as The Doctor walked in to the console room.

"Did you find anything?" he asked.

"It says they picked George Everton for some big test, that they had to have him specifically, combination of blood types and personality traits… it backs up in history, I checked him out. Says he died in the fire that burned his club down in 1899. They used him in experiments for super soldiers."

"You humans, always with the super soldiers…" The Doctor sighed.

"I was hoping McKenzie might be able to hack into the Planet Link servers… to try and see if they've picked up any usage."

"I'm sure she'd be happy to, but why?"

"They have my vortex manipulator, anything that they do is on my head!"

McKenzie walked in, "Morning," she said "At least, I think it's morning…"

"Don't worry, time tends to get lost in here." The Doctor grinned at her, "Hey."

"Hey yourself." she smiled back.

"McKenzie, do you think you could hack into Planet Link's systems for me?" asked Jack.

"Sure," she headed to the console, "What for?"

"They _fix_ all the vortex manipulators that their opratives use so that they can only make short trips. They'll be monitoring my teleport, so they will probably have picked up where they've been. I imagine they'll be hot on their tails... but I want to get their first."

"On it." she put on her glasses and started typing, "Ok I'm in, they ported to a few small places around the city, shops mostly."

Jack and The Doctor leaned over her shoulders and watched the screen.

"Credit cards have been reported stolen from a those places... I can check if any of the cards reported stolen have made any purchases?" she continued typing, "Ok, they checked out credits from ATMs… that's about it– Oh! I could check purchases for ships leaving the planet soon… Right, two tickets were bought last minute for a cruise to… Flora."

"Why would they'd go there...?" asked The Doctor.

"Come on, beautiful gardens, private beaches, ritzy apartments… What could they possibly want?" she said sarcastically.

"Ok, well it says it leaves soon, so we better get going." said Jack.

Everyone sprung into action.

Later on the cruise ship, Jack and The Doctor waited eagerly for McKenzie.

"Come on out…" said The Doctor, grinning.

"No way! I look ridiculous." said McKenzie from behind a door.

"We all do! Just come out." Jack tried not to laugh.

She sighed and stepped out looking unimpressed. Jack and The Doctor stifled chuckles.

"That's it!" she said about to turn back to the locker room.

"No, no I'm sorry you look–" said The Doctor.

"Zip it!" she said sharply, "Why are we dressed like this anyway…?"

They were dressed as servers, Jack and The Doctor were wearing black trousers with a white shirt and a red tie, McKenzie was wearing a short black skirt with a white shirt and a red ribbon around her neck.

"I told you, if you want to know what's going on, you go in as staff." The Doctor smiled.

"But I feel ridiculous!"

A group of servers walked past them and through to the kitchen.

"Come on then." said Jack.

They headed into the kitchen and grouped up with the rest of the servers. Each of them were handed trays and told to circulate around the welcome party.

McKenzie wandered over to a dark haired couple sat in a booth, thinking they might be Vera and George.

"Excuse me!" a woman clicked her fingers at her.

"I'm sorry?" she replied, looking very offended.

"You, serving girl, more wine please." she waved her almost empty glass of white wine at McKenzie.

"Right." McKenzie realised she would have to play the part. She topped up the womans glass with red wine and moved on. She heard the woman complaining and couldn't help but smile a little.

McKenzie headed towards the couple, "More wine?" she asked.

"No thank you, darling." she heard Vera say. She was feeding strawberries to a man, he wasn't George, but she was definitely Vera.

McKenzie looked over them, she had a handbag on the table. She leaned over and spilt the wine over Vera.

"You, incompetent waitress!" she shouted.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! Here, let me?" she knocked her bag off the table while pretending to grab her a napkin, "Gosh again, I am deeply sorry." she knelt down and made a quick note of everything in the bag as she quickly shoved shoved it all back in.

Vera snatched the bag back and stormed off, the guy she was with chased after her.

McKenzie smiled to herself and noticed The Doctor watching her, she walked over to him.

"Sneaky," he said, "And that was expensive wine!" he idly munched the food on his tray.

"And I thought those were for the guests?" she said taking a piece.

"What did we learn then?" he asked.

"Well, most of the stolen cards are in there… and I got this!" she held up a card.

"Oh?"

"It's a key to their room."

"Oh…" he grinned, a cheeky spark in his eyes.

"Calm down, I meant we could lock them in and wait for someone to you know, deal with them? Then we can leave and do whatever we want!"

"We could stay here, for a bit?" he looked shocked that he had just said that.

"R– really?" she said.

"I don't know why I said that." he almost looked embarrassed.

"Well… I…" she looked at the key card and could sense The Doctor's embarrassment.

"Never mind… ignore me I–"

"I'd love to," she smiled, "But you have a universe to show me first."

He smiled back. They looked around and saw Jack with a group of affectionate older women.

"He looks happy" McKenzie laughed.

"We should go…" said The Doctor.

The three of them walked up to the room that Vera's key was to, unsure if it was even her room or just a stolen key.

"This the right one?" asked Jack.

"Yep, 36B." she knocked on the door, "Housekeeping!"

They listened carefully, no one was in.

"What would you have done if they were in there? Ambush them?" asked Jack.

"Hmm, guess I didn't really think this through... Maybe we should contact Planet Link?"

"On it," said Jack leaving back down the corridor.

"Right, I guess I'll check the room, Doctor if you could watch out for George and Vera?" she opened the door and quickly started to rummage through the drawers, "Nothing much here… the rest of the stolen cards, and…" she opened the wardrobe, "This!" she held up Jack's vortex manipulator, "Why did they leave that here?"

"Someone's coming!" said The Doctor, hearing voices coming down from round the corner.

"Ok, I'm coming back." she replied.

She stepped out into the corridor and closed the door.

"How could you have just left it in the room!"

They heard George coming around the corner, shouting at who they assumed was Vera.

"Uh oh…" McKenzie looked around for a place to hide, there was a cleaning closet behind them she opened the door and pushed The Doctor in closing the door behind her. He landed on the floor and she landed on top of him.

"Um…" he said.

She shushed him.

"And you left the door unlocked?!"

"Maybe it was housekeeping..." Vera sighed.

They continued arguing.

"I hadn't noticed how short that skirt was…" The Doctor said, looking up at the ceiling.

McKenzie realised how she was leaned over him.

"Gosh…" she went bright red and climbed off of him.

They heard the door open and close, then muffled shouting.

"I think they're gone." McKenzie opened the door and crawled out of the closet. Jack was standing there, she looked up at him.

"Oh… hey…" she said, awkwardly looking up at him.

"I'm not even going to ask." he said looking down at them.

She got up and laughed nervously, then locked them in the room.

"They said they would be here any minute." said Jack.

The door started shaking, the three of them stepped back in shock.

"Hey!" George shouted from inside.

Conrad appeared down the corridor with two armed guards.

"I ought to thank you," he said, walking over to them, "You've done me a great service. I hope there are no bad feelings, but I still mean to commandeer your vessel."

"Excuse me?!" The Doctor shouted. McKenzie fiddled with Jack's vortex manipulator.

"It's quite an extraordinary machine; I simply can't do without it." he shrugged and snapped his fingers, the guards raised their guns.

"Of course!" said McKenzie.

"What?!" The Doctor looked at her.

She linked arms with The Doctor and Jack.

"Just give me a moment to discuss it with my associates." she teleported them to the TARDIS, "Right! Time to go!" she ran to the console room.

Jack and The Doctor looked at each other in astonishment, then ran after her.

"How did you do that?!" asked Jack.

"The interface is simple enough; it was just a case of finding previous port point and reversing the trajectory." McKenzie grinned.

"Oh, right, yes of course…" Jack mumbled.

They got to the console.

"Where to now?" asked The Doctor.

"What about Flora? Now they've got George and Vera, we can do whatever we like! And besides, we were heading there anyway..." she winked at him.

"Alright then." The Doctor ginned and pulled the leaver, the TARDIS shook into action taking them to Flora.


	6. Chapter 6

The TARDIS landed on the edge of a beach; McKenzie stepped out and on to the sand, a gentle breeze floated around her as she admired the scene. Crystal clear waves crashed gently on the soft sand and there wasn't a cloud in the almost pale violet coloured sky.

A huge resort rested neatly at the edge of the sand and people went about their holiday without a care in the universe.

"Wow, this is amazing!" McKenzie said, looking back at The Doctor.

"Isn't it just?" he smiled back at her.

"You know they're going to find us eventually..." said Jack, stepping up beside them.

"Well, we can enjoy ourselves while we're here can't we?" The Doctor said, putting his arms around them both.

"I suppose you're right..." Jack thought for a moment, "I'm gonna hit the bar." he grinned as he slipped under The Doctor's arm and headed off at a rather quick pace.

"Do you think we should follow him?" McKenzie asked The Doctor, eyeing up the Jack shaped puff of smoke.

"Nah... He'll be fine on his own," he said heading to a closed off path, "Come on." he ducked under the rope.

"Where?" McKenzie raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just for a walk through the Gardens." he smiled.

"But it's closed off?" she pointed to the rope between them.

"You of all people should know that's never stopped me before, come on." he grabbed her hand and pulled her after him.

They walked through the forest, sunlight filtered through the towering plants and giant flowers overhead cascading beautiful coloured shapes and shadows over the lush yellow grass; they came to a small bridge over a river. It flowed calmly as a soft breeze floated by causing pale pink blossoms to swirl around them. The Doctor admired McKenzie as she smiled, looking at the beauty surrounding them. A petal landed in her hair, he laughed and pulled her close to him, brushing the petal away for her. His hand lingered on her cheek, she smiled and looked up at him.

"This is beautiful..." she said, stepping a little closer to him.

"It's a shame the rest of the universe can't be as incredible as this" he replied.

"Shush, don't spoil it for me!" she laughed, "You know, we're going to have to do something to keep them off our backs..." she absent-mindedly fiddled with his tie.

"Now who's spoiling it?"

"I just meant that–"

"Can't you just take the compliment?" he laughed a little.

"Compliment...?" she thought for a moment, "Oh..." she smiled, blushing a little.

They looked deep into each other's eyes, then leant in closer, she closed her eyes but then, he stopped.

He noticed something over her shoulder, they were being watched.

The Doctor walked around McKenzie and stared at the hooded figure, watching them from way back in the distance.

McKenzie reached forward and almost fell over, she opened her eyes when she realised that The Doctor was gone, "Hey! What–" she turned as she looked around for him.

The Doctor shushed her and turned back to face her, "Someone's watching us..." he said, he looked back, but the person was gone.

"I don't see anyone...?" McKenzie said.

"They were there... someone in a hooded cloak." he pointed off into the distance, the scenery looked disturbed as if someone had just passed through the area.

She took his hand, "Well whoever they were, they're gone now... so maybe we could get back too...?" she grinned and bit her lip.

He smiled, but then his phone buzzed in his pocket.

McKenzie sighed, "I suppose that's duty?"

The Doctor answered the phone, it was Jack.

"Hey, sorry if I interrupted anything, but uh... they've found us." Jack said.

"Already?" The Doctor asked.

"Yeah I spotted an agent in the bar. They haven't found the TARDIS yet and I don't plan on leading them to it."

McKenzie took the phone off of him.

"We need to meet somewhere," she looked around for a sign, "What about west beach? Is that near you?"

"Yeah, not far. See you there." Jack said.

She hung up the phone and threw it to The Doctor as she headed down the path.

The Doctor fumbled with the phone but eventually managed to catch it, "Sounds like you have a plan?" The Doctor caught up to her.

"Yeah I think I do," she faced him and continued walking backwards, seemingly aware of everything around her, "Jack's vortex manipulator is fixed to only cover short distances right? Do you think you could un-fix it to get it working properly again?"

"Of course I can..." he twirled his screwdriver in his fingers, "What are you going to do?"

"You guys need to create a distraction here, I'll head to the base and scramble any signals they have on us, that should keep them off our backs for a while."

"No... I don't think–"

"Why not?"

"What if something happens to you? They said immediate termination!"

"That was when I still had George and Vera... They couldn't let them escape."

"You act like you think that was a valid reason to shoot you! And what if they try and put them back in?"

"I don't think they would make that mistake twice..."

"But–"

"I know you're worried about me..." she took his hand, "But I'm tough," she smiled, "I'm not going anywhere I won't be coming back from."

He took her hand and stopped her from charging off, "Look… I only just found you... I don't want to lose you..." he looked down at the floor.

"You won't," she lifted his head and looked into his eyes, "I promise."

They arrived at the beach, Jack waved them over.

"What have you two been up too?" he said grinning and looking at them holding hands.

They looked down at their hands then up at each other, then quickly let go of each other.

"Nothing." they said abruptly.

"What's the plan then?" Jack asked, "Sounded like you had something up your sleeve..?"

"Right," said McKenzie, "I need to borrow your teleport please?"

"Sure." he handed it to her, she handed it to the Doctor and he held his screwdriver to it.

"I need you two to go back to where you found that guard and distract the Planet Link guys while I go and screw up their tracking software at the base."

The vortex manipulator flashed and fizzled.

"That should do it." said The Doctor handing it to McKenzie.

"Good," she said, "I'll be quick." she looked up to The Doctor, "I promise." she disappeared.

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Jack.

"Haven't the faintest..." replied The Doctor.

McKenzie appeared in her lab, back at the Planet Link base. The vortex manipulator felt a hell of a lot different to the Planet Link teleport. It was similar to having your entire body taken apart and then having everything put back together in a seemingly random order.

"Sweet..." she said dizzily swaying in place.

Nothing much of interest was left, she had grabbed everything on her previous trip. She peered round the door and wandered round to the lift, she pressed the button for head office but it stopped at floor fourty-seven. She quickly activated her invisibility as a man walked in and pressed the button for head office, he stared at the corner she was in for a moment.

McKenzie held her breath.

The man then turned back around, waiting for the lift to arrive.

The lift got to the head office and the doors opened to Conrad, sat at his desk and mumbling angrily.

"Have you found them yet?!" he shouted at the man almost as soon as his foot hit the office carpet.

McKenzie crept around behind Conrad while he was distracted.

"N..n..not yet Sir," he said nervously, "B..b..b..but they have been tracked to Flora, the flower planet that the prisoners were heading to."

"Good..." Conrad said calmly, "Now get me that ship!" he shouted banging his hands on the desk.

"Y..y..yes Sir!" the man said running back to the lift.

There was an awkward moment where the doors opened and closed, Conrad just sort of stared at his employee until he left.

Conrad sat down and sighed. McKenzie whipped out her staff and hit him in the head, knocking him out cold. She set to work on his computer.


	7. Chapter 7

Jack and The Doctor watched as the Planet Link operative sat down at the bar.

"We can't exactly start a fight right here, now can we..." said Jack.

"Why don't we just talk to him?" The Doctor said as he started walking over to him.

"Wait!" Jack followed.

The Doctor headed for the bar, but first, he grabbed a straw hat and sunglasses from a stall while the shop assistant was chatting up a customer. He put on the glasses and the hat so that it shadowed his face. He sat a couple of seats away from the agent.

"Lovely day isn't it?" he smiled, "What's your special today?" he asked the bar tender.

"Pan galactic gargle blaster." he said sarcastically.

"Right... what are you drinking my friend?" he asked the agent.

"What does it matter... I'm going to get fired..." the agent replied.

The Doctor looked over the agent, he was wearing the usual Planet Link uniform, however he was a little dishevelled with what looked like a lipstick stain on his cheek.

"What makes you say that?" The Doctor asked, suspiciously.

"I'm supposed to find these guys... they escaped and I've been told to get to their ship, they're here somewhere but I can't find them... I got all confused and... I can't think!"

"What do these guys look like?"

"Um... well... there's a guy... with red hair and... a woman... she did have red hair... but it's white now... and another guy... I don't know what he looks like."

"You know... I think I saw those guys actually." said Jack from the other side of the agent, wearing the same hat and glasses as The Doctor.

"Yeah, that description does ring a bell..." said The Doctor.

"Really? Can you tell me where?" the agent perked up a little, looking between Jack and The Doctor.

"Ooh... I'm not sure... I think I saw them up by the pool... But I could be wrong?" said Jack.

"It might have been north beach... by the orange trees?" said The Doctor.

"That's good enough for me," said the agent jumping up, "Thanks guys!"

"Don't mention it." said The Doctor.

The agent quickly ran off in a random direction.

"I don't think he realises they are on opposite sides of the island..." laughed Jack as he moved next to The Doctor, "And that he's going the wrong way."

"Well, it should keep him busy." said The Doctor.

McKenzie found the files they had on her, Jack and The Doctor.

"Yahtzee." she said.

She deleted the data and anything relating to them including files on _the mysterious ship_ and tracking data.

But unfortunately the man from before ran in to the office from the lift.

"Sir! The teleport, it tracked to–!" he noticed McKenzie at the desk, their eyes locked for a moment, almost like they were frozen. His eyes quickly flitted over to the alarm on the wall.

"Don't you dare!" McKenzie said.

He ran to it at the split second McKenzie jumped over the desk, he managed to sound the alarm seconds before she knocked him out with her staff.

"Shoot..." she frantically teleported away and ended up in a random office, two people were kissing in the corner and hadn't seemed to notice her. She teleported away again, this time into a lab. A man with glasses turned and gasped but before he could get up she disappeared again. She went through a few different locations, a few more random offices and labs creating a bit of havoc then ended up in a cell with a lanky green man.

"Huh?" he said looking up at her, "How did you get here?"

She stepped back keying in another location.

He stepped towards her, "No wait don't leave!"

She disappeared and reappeared outside the holographic cell wall.

"Who are you... what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm a test subject, please, you've got to get me out of here!" the man begged.

"Why should I? I know what they get up to here–"

"Please, you're Murphy right? The consciousness experiments right? I know everything, please you got to believe me! I don't have any criminals in my head, they just test the weapons on me, read my file... please...!"

She turned to the computer screen beside him, it read ' _Taygaren, not-lethal weapons subject_ '. She remembered what Jack had said, the most recent disappearances were her and a _Taygaren_.

"You're Taygaren...?" McKenzie asked.

He stood up, "Yes, that's me... please you have to help me!"

"What exactly you do mean by non-lethal weapons?" she asked, not looking up from whatever she was doing at the computer.

"Things like viruses, tranquillizers, freeze rays, stuff like that... It's horrible... not what I signed up for. I have extreme regenerative abilities and they use it to test how much damage their weapons actually cause. They keep me in here because I _volunteered_... they have my signature and that's all they need... They tricked me!"

The computer beeped.

"Not anymore!" said McKenzie.

"What?"

"There was a little computer accident and all your files and everything relating to your existence was deleted... oops." she smiled, trying to look innocent.

"Thank you." said Taygaren.

She shut down the holo-cells and the rest of the power to the building. He stepped out of his cell.

"That should keep them busy for a while, let's go!" she held her hand out to him. He smiled and took it, they disappeared.

They appeared back at the beach she had left from.

"Right, I think they're at the bar…" said McKenzie, heading down the pathway.

"Wow, this place is amazing, where are we?" asked Taygaren, looking around.

"This is Flora, oceanic beach planet well known for its extremely large plant life and…" she stopped, "Gosh, I sound like the brochure!"

"It's alright, this is the closest thing I've had to a real conversation in years." Taygaren laughed weakly.

She smiled, "Where did you come from?"

"Daneer 5," he said looking sad, "But… when they took me, they said something about time travel… I don't know where I am or… what could have happened to my mother…"

"What year?"

"15-40-J. But why would it matter…?"

"We can get you back… my friend… he has a time machine."

"Seriously? Who is he?"

"He's…" she thought for a moment, "He's someone who can help." she smiled.

Meanwhile back at the bar, Jack and The Doctor waited for McKenzie to return.

"Jack… I'm sorry I couldn't be there… but there are some things that you just need to handle on your own." The Doctor said, hanging his head for a moment.

"I get it… It's fine, the things that were happening down there… You wouldn't have want to be there." he turned and saw McKenzie walking over to them, "She's back." he waved to her.

The Doctor stood up and waved, "Who's that with her…?" he whispered to Jack.

"So, this is Jack, and this is The Doctor." McKenzie pointed to them in turn.

"Hello, I'm Taygaren, Murphy rescued me from the lab." he smiled at her.

The Doctor stood intimidatingly close to him, "How can we help?" he asked, grinning like the cheshire cat.

"Uh… M…Murphy said you could get me home?" he looked up at The Doctor towering over him, he was more than a little frightened.

"Yes." she said stepping in between them, "He wants to get back to his family."

Taygaren nodded nervously, still staring at The Doctor as he hid behind McKenzie.

"Did you deal with that agent?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Jack, "Although we didn't really have to do much, he seemed like he was drunk or something…"

"Huh… shall we get going then?"

"Yes, let's…" said The Doctor.

Jack put his arm around Taygaren, "So tell me, what's home for you?"

Taygaren looked back at McKenzie apprehensively. She laughed and they headed back to the TARDIS.

"Why are you being weird?" McKenzie asked The Doctor.

"What? Weird? Me? No…" he said.

She gasped, realising she could feel exactly what he was, "You're jealous!"

"Please, me? I am over two-thousand years old, I'm a little past that now, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you'd think wouldn't you…" she raised her eyebrow at him.

He sighed, "How do you know we can trust him?"

"You trusted me didn't you? Or have you just got a weak spot for damsels in distress?" she raised her eyebrow at him.

"No comment." he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"He just wants to get home, we take him back in the TARDIS and probably never see him again."

"Fine, but if he does anything suspicious…"

"Then you have every right to say I told you so, and we deal with it. Ok?"

He sighed "Ok..."

They continued walking in silence. McKenzie nudged him as they were walking, he nudged her back, not really sure of how else to respond. They laughed. She nudged him again and held his hand, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close.


	8. Chapter 8

"I was taken from the club at the edge of my area…" said Taygaren, "I had just got in a big fight with my mother about leaving home, moving out you know? She said I wasn't ready. Then they showed up. Offered me everything and more and I accepted. I didn't think I'd ever see my mother again… I just. I feel so bad about everything. I checked up on my history and apparently I died… that's what she thought… that I had died and I never got the chance to apologise, I wanted to get back, but they wouldn't let me. So I stuck with my work… it suffered and they offered me one more chance. I didn't realise how permanent the contract would be. I've got scars and bruises with scars and bruises, they treated me like a punching bag… But now, thanks to you I can go back. I can apologise… If she'd even want me again…"

Taygaren sighed as he looked at the TARDIS doors.

"They're your parents, of course they'd want you." said McKenzie.

He sighed, "I suppose you're right… but…"

"But nothing!" said The Doctor, "Get out there, and get your life back!"

"Yeah," he said getting up, "You're right. It's now or never!" he headed to the door.

"Well you're not staying here…" The Doctor mumbled quietly.

McKenzie jabbed him in the ribs and shushed him. He shrugged.

"How long have I been gone?" Taygaren asked.

"Should be a few weeks after you left." The Doctor replied.

Taygaren took a deep breath and stepped out of the TARDIS. He looked back at McKenzie, she smiled at him and he turned back to his parent's house. He prepared himself and knocked at the door. A small elderly woman opened the door, she was a much paler green than Taygaren but it was definitely his mother.

"Taygaren…?" she said looking up at him, tears forming in her eyes, "Is it really you?"

"Yes, mother," he smiled and hugged her tightly, "I'm so sorry for what happened, you were right you're always right."

"No, I'm sorry. I should have let you go, you need to be able to make your own choices!"

"I've been away long enough, I'm staying, I'll get a job here and I'll look after you."

"Oh Tayg… You are the best son a mother could ever ask for."

McKenzie watched them as she leant on the TARDIS door, Jack and The Doctor stood behind her.

The Doctor stroked her shoulder.

"You were right you know." he smiled.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Now you're the one doing the rescuing," he pointed to Taygaren and his mother, "You did that, you brought them together, that was all you."

"Well... it's your time machine..." she said modestly.

"In which you travel. I mean, not that I like you bringing in strays…"

"So, we're travelling together then, that's the plan?"

"If you want to of course…" he tried to hide his cheeks going red.

"Is it dangerous...?"

"Yes."

"But, is it worth it? The things you see... Is it worth all the danger?"

"Oh yes!" he smiled.

She smiled back, "Then you couldn't keep me away!"

Taygaren looked at his mother, tears streaming, he turned to McKenzie and waved.

McKenzie, Jack and The Doctor waved back. They stepped inside the TARDIS and closed the doors. Taygaren and his mother watched as the TARDIS disappeared.

"So I think this is me as well..." said Jack.

"What...? You're not leaving are you?" asked The Doctor.

"I think I have to... There are some people I have to see, I've been gone for much too long…" he smiled nostalgically.

"Come on, one more trip?" begged McKenzie.

He rolled his eyes, "Alright, but just drop me off somewhere first?"

"Where were you thinking?" asked The Doctor fiddling with the console.

"Trafalgar Square." he said.

"Oh, it's that where it is now?" The Doctor laughed.

"Where what is?" asked McKenzie.

"Just a business I used to run, a few friends over there might need a bit of help." he smiled.

"Alright then, it's right out there." he opened the door.

Jack stepped out and breathed in the modern London air, people and traffic rushed around them as if they hadn't even noticed the police box appear right in front of them.

"Don't move ok? I'll be right back" Jack said, backing away from the TARDIS.

"Oh of course." The Doctor nodded to him.

Jack ran off down the road.

McKenzie looked out around the busy city, "Well... it is a time machine..."

"What are you thinking?" he closed the doors.

"Quick trip wouldn't hurt..." she went over to the console, "We'd be back before he even realises we're gone..."

"You read my mind." he smiled charmingly at her and joined her by the console, "So _Napkin Girl_ , what were you thinking…? Anywhere, anywhen… Every star that ever was, all of time and space. Where do you want to start?"


End file.
